


Simple

by mielitapot



Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: Gen, fic from tumblr, this is so fluffy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-24
Updated: 2014-11-24
Packaged: 2018-02-26 20:37:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2665544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mielitapot/pseuds/mielitapot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Not everything has to be complicated. Some things are just that, simple. And at times, simple things—moments, gestures, words—are what we crave the most.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Simple

 

 

**"Eeeeeh?!"**

 

 

Students paused in what they were doing to stare at Kosaka Yoriko. When they saw that she was only pointing at her friend, they dismissed her as just a teenage girl gossiping with her friend and moved on with their lives to finally go home after a long day at school.

 

 

"Sit down, you’re making people stare at us." Kirishima Touka gently admonished her friend. "Yoriko!"

 

 

"I just can’t.."

 

 

"Can’t what?"

 

 

Yoriko grinned manically at her friend. “I can’t believe you are ditching our afternoon review session for a date!” Yoriko squealed, her face staining red in excitement. “A date with Eyepatch-kun!”

 

 

It was Touka’s turn to splutter in embarrassment. “What?”

 

 

"Ohoho. You, my friend, are blushing right now!" Yoriko giggled and threw her things in her school bag. "Tell me details."

 

 

Touka sighed. She knew it would a pain in the ass if Yoriko knew what she would be doing. “There are no details, for goodness’ sake!”

 

 

"Of course there are. You are going out with him this afternoon. So who asked out whom?"

 

 

"Wha-what?"

 

 

"Did Eyepatch-kun ask you out…or…" Yoriko smiled. "You asked him out, didn’t you?"

 

 

Touka choked on her own spit.

 

 

"Aha!"

 

 

"YORIKO."

 

 

"What? I bet you did. Eyepatch-kun is too shy and meek and kind. I bet he was too embarrassed to ask you out! Eyepatch-kun—"

 

 

"His name is Kaneki." Touka interrupted. She was getting pissed at the word ‘Eyepatch’ since it was her name for Kaneki when she wasn’t acknowledging him as someone important. Plus, ‘Eyepatch’ was a term or alias for his ghoul-self. It would be bad if the CCG put the pieces together.. "Call him Kaneki."

 

 

Yoriko smiled fondly at her friend. She felt so glad that Touka was finally, finally getting what she deserved. Some happiness in her life. “So…Kaneki-kun, huh?”

 

 

**"San."**

 

 

Yoriko blinked at Touka’s sharp tone.

 

 

**"Kaneki-san. Call him that."**

 

 

"Ehhh. Why?" Yoriko was utterly confused.

 

 

Touka snapped back to reality and blushed. “U-um.. Well he is older than us by two years so..”

 

 

Yoriko grinned. “I can’t believe you’re so..so..possessive!” She laughed. “Oh my god. Touka-chan. You are so cute!”

 

 

"I’m not! I’m not cute nor possessive! Stop it Yoriko."

 

 

"Okay, okay." Yoriko swiped some tears from the corner of her eyes. "Anyway, what are you going to wear for this date?"

 

 

"It’s not a date." Touka stood up. "Casual clothes. Why should I dress up?"

 

 

"Because. You need to dress up for a date!" Yoriko ran after her friend. She grabbed Touka’s hand. "Come on, I’ll help you."

 

 

"What!" Touka stumbled. "Don’t pull me. Hey! Don’t run!"

 

 

Yoriko just giggled. “Come on Touka-chan! You wouldn’t want to be late for your date!”

 

 

"Yoriko!"

* * *

 

"Man."

 

 

Kaneki sighed. “I really really regret telling you.” He instinctively caught a dress shirt thrown in his face. “Why did I call you again?”

 

 

Nagachika Hideyoshi  poked his head out of Kaneki’s closet. “Since I am your best friend and you have to tell me when you go on dates. And well, you have disappeared for a long time and you owe me an explanation but you won’t give me one so..”

 

 

"Alright, I give up." Kaneki sighed. "Just..continue whatever you were doing."

 

 

Hide smiled. He held up a pair of dark jeans. “I didn’t know you had okay clothes. I thought you only had dork clothes. Did you buy all of these when you were gone?” He threw Kaneki the pants in hand. “Wear that.”

 

 

"Alright." Kaneki looked at his closet, it was brimming full of his mew clothes courtesy of one persistent gourmet. "They’re gifts from a..friend." He shrugged.

 

 

As Kaneki walked to his bathroom, Hide plopped down on his friend’s bed.

 

 

"Glad you’re back." Hide whispered.

 

 

"Ah?"

 

 

"Nothing. Come on, slowpoke. You shouldn’t make Touka-chan wait for you! You finally, finally get a decent date and then you’re gonna be late?" Hide clucked his tongue. "That’s bad manners, Kaneki."

 

 

"What? What time is it?" Kaneki rushed out the bathroom, looking flustered. "Is it already 4p.m.?"

 

 

Hide chuckled. “Nope. It’s just 3p.m. School just ended for Touka-chan.” He laughed at Kaneki’s face. “So. You finally had the guts to ask her out?”

 

 

"What?"

 

 

Despite how much Kaneki changed—his looks, his attitude, his eyes—Hide could still notice Kaneki’s flustered and embarrassed expression. Old Kaneki was still in there somewhere, thank the heavens.

 

 

"Well, you’ve always found her cute right? And don’t you think I never noticed how you look at her."

 

 

Kaneki wore his shirt and put on a somewhat fancy jacket. “What do you mean?”

 

 

"Well. I can’t really say for sure, but it reflects in your eyes whenever you look at her that you really care for her. I was wondering when you guys would get together." Hide shrugged.

 

 

"Get together huh?" Kaneki mumbled. "I don’t even know if she feels the same-" He cut himself off and furiously fought down a blush. Kaneki snapped his mouth shut and turned away from Hide, looked at his mirror and pretended to fix his hair.

 

 

Hide grinned. “So you are admitting that you like Touka-chan?”

 

 

Kaneki looked at Hide. “Um. Well.” He shrugged and gave up. He knew Hide would find out…eventually so. “Isn’t it obvious?”

 

 

Hide laughed out loud. He stood up and placed his arm around his friend’s shoulders. “Good answer, Kaneki. We better go now though.”

 

 

"What do you mean ‘we’?" Kaneki gulped. "You can’t mean…"

 

 

"Let’s go!"

 

 

"Hide!"

* * *

 

Three sound and brief raps were heard from the door.

 

 

Yoriko stood up. “Oh! He’s here. I’ll go get the door! You tie that ribbon properly!”

 

 

Touka hastily stood up, tying the mentioned ribbon around her collar. “Wait, wait!”

 

 

Yoriko ignored her friend and ran faster to the door. She opened it and smiled widely,

 

 

"Eh?"

 

 

"Touka-cha—"

 

 

"Who are you?"

 

 

"Yoriko!" Touka reached her door to find Yoriko staring at one unexpected guest. "Hide-san?"

 

 

"Oh! Touka-cha—"

 

 

"Hide, you!" Kaneki looked up and stared at Touka. "Touka-chan.."

 

 

Silence ensued briefly as Kaneki and Touka stared at each other, quietly admiring their unusually dressed up counterparts.

 

 

"Hey…Kaneki-san and um, his friend?" Yoriko spoke up. "Why don’t you guys have a seat first while I talk to Touka-chan for a while?"

 

 

She didn’t wait for any of them to react and just dragged Touka to her bedroom.

 

 

"Was that Kaneki-san? Isn’t his hair black?" Yoriko asked. "And what happened to his nails? And who is that..um..cute little ball of sunshine?"

 

 

"I…yeah, that is Kaneki. We..didn’t know. His hair and nails just turned out like that one day..I guess you could say, it’s um something in his genes?" Touka uneasily lied. She really didn’t what happened but she was not going to tell Yoriko what really happened. "And..that guy is his best friend, Hideyoshi-san. What cute ball of sunshine? He’s just a regular guy?"

 

 

Touka stared at Yoriko when the girl didn’t reply. “What’s..wrong?”

 

 

"Kaneki-san…"

 

 

Touka gulped. “Yeah?”

 

 

"Is so hot! You are so lucky. I am so so so happy for you!" Yoriko engulfed Touka in a tight hug. "And oh! Tha way he look at you! Aaah. I am so happy for you Touka-

chan!"

 

 

"I don’t get it..what do you—"

 

 

"Oops! Let’s not keep your date waiting!"

 

 

Yoriko dragged Touka to the living area to see the guys were sitting peacefully on the couch. She noticed that Kaneki was not looking around, unlike Hide who was examining the whole room. It was as if Kaneki was familiar with the room. It was as if he was been there several times.

 

 

_'Oh silly me. He's been here before.'_  Yoriko smiled at her thoughts. _‘This guy managed to be actually invited by Touka-chan after just a few months huh…impressive. Makes me kinda jealous..’_

 

 

"Oh! Touka-chan! You look really good today, right, Kaneki?" Hide smiled brightly. He turned to Yoriko. "I am Hideyoshi, Kaneki’s best friend. You are?" He extended his hand.

 

 

Yoriko accepted the handshake. “It’s Yoriko. Touka-chan’s best friend. So, you are Kaneki-san?” She turned to Kaneki.

 

 

"Ahh, yeah. It’s nice to..um, meet you." Kaneki shook her outstretched hand.

 

 

Yoriko giggled. “Yeah. Anyway, you guys get going. Let me just get my bag and let us all go out.”

 

 

The four teens exited Touka’s apartment without much ado. When they were outside, Yoriko smiled.

 

 

"I guess, I better get going then." She turned to Touka. "Have fun!"

 

 

"Wa-wait! Let us escort you home." Touka suggested, frantically looking at Kaneki. When their eyes met, they blushed slightly.

 

 

"Ahh, yes..let us escort you home, Yoriko-san." Kaneki supplied.

 

 

Hide chuckled. “No worries, I’ll escort her myself.” He turned to Yoriko. “Will that be okay with you?”

 

 

"Sure."

 

 

"Have fun you two!" Hide exclaimed and he and Yoriko went on their way.

 

 

The remaining pair stared blankly at the spot where their best friends were just a few moments ago.

 

 

"Well..there they go." Kaneki mumbled.

 

 

"Yeah.."

 

 

Kaneki stared at the dumbfounded Touka. She looked very..

 

 

"Beautiful."

 

 

Touka snapped out of her stupor. “What?”

 

 

"Aah, I said, let’s go?" Kaneki smiled uneasily. He knew Touka was not very fond of being called beautiful or even pretty so he kept silent. But he decided he’d tell her by the end of the day. After all, she did look very radiant and feminine in her red top with a ribbon around her collar. Plus, her legs were more pronounced in that aquamarine shorts that matched her ribbon. She looked se— "Let’s go, Touka-chan?" He smiled, forcing his thoughts to halt.

 

 

"Ahhh. Sure."

 

 

The two walked side by side in a leisurely pace, the silence between them comfortable and peaceful. After a few minutes of walking, Touka decided to break the silence.

 

 

"So where are we headed?"

 

 

"Eh?"

 

 

Touka narrowed her eyes at Kaneki. “What do you mean, ‘eh’?”

 

 

Kaneki gulped. “Um..I was just following where you were headed?”

 

 

"What!" Touka was getting ready to punch the lights out of Kaneki when he laughed. "What are you laughing at? It isn’t funny. We’ve been basically walking around aimlessly!"

 

 

Kaneki turned to smile at her. “I was just kidding. Ah. You look so cute when you’re pissed, Touka-chan.” His words flowed effortlessly, rendering Touka speechless. Kaneki pointed to a cafe about three meters from them. “See that? That is where I am taking you. Let’s go.” Without much thought, Kaneki grabbed her hand and pulled her with him.

 

 

Within a few moments, they reached the cafe and the comforting and delicious scent of coffee filled their senses.

 

 

"It looks…it’s just a shop that sells coffee? I can’t smell.." Touka broke off her sentence. She wouldn’t want someone to overhear her saying that she smelled human food as disgusting.

 

 

"Yes, the shop strictly sells coffee. Pretty neat huh?" Kaneki lead her to the door. "Would you like to drink inside?"

 

 

"Sure."

 

 

Kaneki lead her to a corner of the cafe. There was a table for two but surprisingly there was only one couch. It was a loveseat for two. Touka blushed but didn’t say anything.

 

 

"Take a seat Touka-chan. I’ll just order for us." Kaneki smiled and headed to the counter.

 

 

Touka sat down, close to the edge of couch—next to the wall. Her gaze followed her companion and she watched in amusement as Kaneki seemed to gather so much attention from everyone in the quaint café. He cleans up rather neatly, if she must say so herself. His usually unruly hair fell graciously and framed his face rather nicely, and it brought out his eyes.

 

 

His eyes.

 

 

Touka sighed. If there was anything which changed the most in Kaneki (excluding his behavior, because that’s another thing entirely), it was his eyes. Yes, his hair and his nails were really outstanding and distracting but it was his eyes that were far more disturbing.

 

 

His eyes lost the innocent gleam in them. Those warm eyes turned cold. It was as if…someone extinguished the fire (life) in him and you could clearly see it in his eyes.

 

 

Touka’s hands clenched together painfully.

 

 

_‘Damn Aogiri..’_ Touka felt all the negative emotions that name alone was provoking in her—the anger, sadness, fear and most of all, longing. Longing for her babybrother who strayed from the right path and into the darkness. _‘Ayato…’_

 

 

“Sorry for waiting!” Kaneki carefully placed two steaming mugs of rich, black coffee on their table. “Touka-chan? Are you okay?”

 

 

“Huh?”

 

 

Kaneki sat down next to her and reached his hand to wipe her right eye. “You’re—something’s in your eye.” He offered her the cup of coffee. “Here, I bet you’ll like this blend.” He smiled kindly.

 

 

Kaneki saw the pain in her eyes. And yet, he also saw panic. He didn’t want to ignore her pain, but if that what she wants; he would pretend he didn’t notice.

 

 

“Hey! This smells so amazing.” Touka got effectively distracted by the coffee cup placed in front of her. “What is it?”

 

 

Kaneki smiled. “Try it, it tastes better than it smells. I bet you’ll love it.” He sipped his own coffee. “That is actually my second favorite blend of coffee after the Manager’s coffee.”

 

 

Touka sipped her coffee tentatively and her eyes widened in appreciation. “It’s really delicious!” She turned to Kaneki with bright eyes. “What is it called? What beans were used and how do you roast it? Wait, how’d you know I’ll like it?”

 

 

Touka looked at the chuckling Kaneki. 

 

 

"That’s simple." He looked at Touka intently. "I know you, Touka-chan." He stared at her eyes, trying to convey all of his feelings for her in a single stare. "I know what you like and do not like. I know what makes you happy or sad. And…"

 

 

"And?"

 

 

Kaneki gulped, suddenly turning nervous under Touka’s intense stare. “And…I want…I want to make you happy so…I searched for little things that I could give you to make you happy.” He took her hand in his. “I can’t give you Ayato—-“

 

 

Touka flinched.

 

 

"—at least, not yet. Maybe one day, we’ll get him to come with us, to Anteiku. I can’t give you a simple, human life. But at the very least..I could give you small, simple things. Like this. Just a simple…get-together—"

 

 

"Date.." Touka mumbled, ducking her head in embarrassment. 

 

 

Kaneki smiled then he gently lifted her head to make her stare at him. “Date.” He chuckled. “I can only give you small, simple things like a rabbit phone strap, or this coffee. I know it’s not much..”

 

 

Touka shook her head. “It’s not much. It means a lot, Kaneki. It means so much to me.” She smiled slightly. “Simple things…are the best..thank you. You’re…the best…thing that happened to me..” She ducked her head in shame again.

 

 

Kaneki reached out to move her hair out of her face. “Don’t hide. You’re beautiful, Touka-chan.”

 

 

As the two were slowly leaning in, a waitress suddenly appeared.

 

 

"Excuse me, sir!" She exclaimed. "Here are the coffee beans you requested." The young woman smiled sweetly at them—completely oblivious to the awkward atmosphere she just created. 

 

 

Kaneki sighed. “Thank you.”

 

 

"You’re welcome!"

 

 

Touka stared at the small plates of coffee beans before her. “What are these for?”

 

 

Kaneki sighed again. The moment was gone. Might as well roll with it. “Erm, These are actually samples of coffee beans they have. I ordered some packs—for you..and Anteiku, but these ones,” Kaneki pointed at the array of beans before them. “are for our entertainment.”

 

 

"Huh?"

 

 

Kaneki scratched his cheek—which was tinged red. “I stayed up late thinking what we could do for today..and..erm, I came up with an idea. Let’s have a competition on how can tell or label the most kind of coffee beans on this table.” He smiled.

 

 

_'Heh, date.'_ Touka smiled fondly. “I accept then.”

 

 

"Get ready to lose, Touka-chan." Kaneki exclaimed playfully.

 

 

"Oh yeah?" Touka smirked. "I might be younger but I am more superior than you in this coffee business."

 

 

"Want to bet on that?"

 

 

"Sure."

 

 

"Okay, if I win…I get a…" Kaneki turned away from her. "…kiss."

 

 

Touka blushed. “O-okay..but if I win..”

 

 

Kaneki smirked. “What, you want a kiss too?”

 

 

She twitched, a competitive spark ignited in her. “Yeah! Game on!”

 

 

 

End.

 

.

.

.

 

_Bonus # 1:_

 

_"I can’t hear!"_

_"Let’s move closer then, Yoriko-san…woah."_

_"Shhh!" Yoriko squealed. "Kiss! Kiss!"_

_Hide chuckled. “Damn, so unlucky, Kaneki.”_

_Yoriko sighed. “So close!”_

 

 

_Bonus # 2:_

_Silence ensued between the two ghouls._

_"So?"_

_"Well..according to our tally..it’s a tie." Kaneki grinned._

_"So…what do we—?!"  
_

_"There." Kaneki smiled and pulled away._

_Touka blushed._

_"You are so cute, Touka-chan." Kaneki chuckled. But he was immediately cut off when Touka pulled him towards her._

 

 

_Bonus # 3:_

_”!!!!!!!!!!”  
_

_And Yoriko promptly fainted into Hide’s frantic arms due to the fan service she just witnessed._

_"Yoriko-san?"_

**Author's Note:**

> I loved writing Yoriko and Hide in the bonuses. Tell me what you think ;)


End file.
